John Biggers highlighted by Swann

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

Swann Auction Galleries in New York created in 2007 a department specializing in modern and current African American art. They organize on October 8 their sixth sale on this theme. For us, this specialty is very interesting because it opens the way for the discovery of still ignored artists.

John Biggers was a painter, illustrator and muralist, influenced by contemporary Africa. He shows the anguish of people who feel threatened because of their race and their beliefs.

This is indeed not happy, but the rather late painting, 1987, for sale by Swann goes even further. This acrylic and oil on canvas, 107 x 127 cm, pushes the theme to despair, with a mockery that is rare in what I could see elsewhere from his art.

It is titled Shotguns. We see a cemetery consisting of standing shotgun houses. Each of the five of them on front row is inhabited by a black woman. Their attitude is quiet, but they have their hands crossed on a miniature representation of the shotgun house confirming that they are the actual target of the shot.

Nothing similar from this artist had been auctioned before. This painting is estimated 200 K$.

[Pierre Tavlitzki]

I said that I had not seen anything like it. This lot will therefore refer to this style of social criticism in the work of Biggers. The price remained below the low estimate: 180 K$ hammer, 216 K$ including premium.

The image is in the top left of the page shared by Art Market Monitor.